SUSTAINABLE CHICKEN

post carbon chickens

I found a great blog post over at the Energy Farm website, a project of the Post Carbon Institute.

I’ll admit that I don’t understand the name of this organization, as I love being a carbon-based life form, and would hate to lose that. As all life on the planet is fueled by the carbon cycle, that is, photosynthesis uses carbon dioxide to create usable biological energy, I’m not sure if they’re envisioning a post-life life. Whatever, they’re doing cool work!

One project they’re working on is producing feed for chickens on site, though it seems that they are focused on growing grains as their primary strategy. 

The post can be found here: http://www.energyfarms.net/node/1507

They provide a lovely run down of protein content for a long list of foods. As you’ll remember from the nutrition lectures, carbohydrates are relatively easy to provide, bringing your protein content up is the main challenge for laying hens. Their helpful list:

Food Source Percent Protein, by weight

Dried fish flakes 76
Dried liver 76
Dried earthworms 76
Duckweed 50
Torula yeast 50
Brewers yeast 39
Soybeans (dry roasted) 37
Flaxseed 37
Alfalfa seed 35
Beef, lean 28
Earthworms 28
Fish 28
Sunflower seeds 26.3
Wheat germ 25
Peas & Beans, dried 24.5
Sesame seed 19.3
Soybeans (boiled) 17
Wheat bran 16.6
Oats, whole 14
Rice polish 12.8
Rye 12.5
Wheat 12.5
Barley 12.3
Oats 12
Corn 9
Millet 9
Milo 9
Rice, brown 7.5

Thanks Post Carbon Institute, that was very helpful research!